Jennifer Lawrence has written an essay expressing her anger at getting paid less than her male co-stars.Last year, the 25-year-old star found herself front and centre of a bitter row over industry sexism after the Sony hack last November revealed she earned significantly less than her male co-stars for her Oscar nominated role in the movie.
Email exchanges between studio executives showed that while she and Amy Adams received 7 per cent shares of the film’s profits, the director and three male leads- Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner – each received 9 per cent.
In the article on Lena Dunham’s website Lenny Letter, J-Law explained she wasn’t even aware how much less she was being paid than the guys until the email exchange became public knowledge.
This is what she disclosed in her Essay:
“When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d***s, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need.
I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’ At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’
I’m over trying to find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable! F*** that. Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.”
